Adam Levine's nipple display during Maroon 5 Super Bowl halftime show sparks complaints to FCC

Adam Levine’s bare-chested antics at the 2019 Super Bowl are the subject of several complaints to the FCC.

15 years after Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction”, Adam Levine took off his shirt at Maroon 5’s performance to reveal not one, but two nipples towards the end of the show.

Many audience members on social media questioned why this was permitted when Jackson was condemned and ostracised from the music industry after Justin Timberlake ripped her costume away, exposing her breast – adorned with a nipple shield – for less than half a second.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Levine’s display prompted 50 viewers to file complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), demanding that he be banned from future performances.

One viewer wrote that Maroon 5 “should be met with twice the consequences” that Jackson faced for the “wardrobe malfunction”.

“I am writing because I am upset about the half-naked stripper on stage of the halftime show,” they wrote.

In a letter to THR, Nancy Stevenson, FCC deputy chief for the consumer policy division, said that “the agency isn’t required to keep records of informal complaints for more than three years,” meaning the records of consumer complaints about Jackson have been discarded.

When the incident occurred back in 2004, it was reported that more than 500,000 people filed complaints with the FCC. A fine of $550,000 was later thrown out.